The Fall And Rise Of The Market In Sandinista Nicaragua

The Fall and Rise of the Market in Sandinista Nicaragua is an insightful look at the difficulties that arise when a particular vision of socialism is applied in a country such as Nicaragua. Phil Ryan argues that the Sandinistas pursued a project of social transformation inspired by a Marxism much more orthodox than has been widely recognized. He maintains that tensions between this project and other factors such as war and external debt led to the severe economic crisis of the mid-1980s.

This book (Vandeplas 2013 available now at Amazon.com) argues that during the decade long rule of the Sandinista movement in 1980s' Nicaragua, discussion of the origins and development of that nation's revolution was greatly hindered by a polarization between two basic points of view. On the one hand, an anticommunist worldview rooted in the Cold War fueled outright opposition to the Sandinista movement. On the other, a defense of the politics of the Sandinistas was motivated by a tendency on the left and within some currents of liberalism to support, almost without criticism, any third world political movement which stood up to the United States government. There were many shades of opinion between these two poles - but no third pole opposed to both. This study is an attempt to break through the intellectual stalemate that is a legacy of the Cold War. By reconsidering the dynamics of the Nicaraguan revolution I believe it is possible to come to a deeper understanding of conflicts in the developing world. In particular, I believe a close study of the relationship between democratic rights and revolutionary movements within the revolutionary process itself is a fruitful means to achieve this understanding.

Examines the Nicaraguan political system during the period 1990-1996, analyzing the administration of Violeta Chamorro, the country's first female president, as an example of the democratization of one political system. Looks into issues including the Sandinista legacy, the new political systems, the economy, the constitution and property, the 1996 elections, and Nicaragua's continuing transition. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Sandinista Revolution and its victory against the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua gripped the United States and the world in the 1980s. But as soon as the Sandinistas were voted out of power in 1990 and the Iran Contra affair ceased to make headlines, it became, in Washington at least, a thing of the past. Mateo Jarquin recenters the revolution as a major episode in the history of Latin America, the international left, and the Cold War. Drawing on research in Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica, he recreates the perspective of Sandinista leaders in Managua and argues that their revolutionary project must be understood in international context. Because struggles over the Revolution unfolded transnationally, the Nicaraguan drama had lasting consequences for Latin American politics at a critical juncture. It also reverberated in Western Europe, among socialists worldwide, and beyond, illuminating global dynamics like the spread of democracy and the demise of a bipolar world dominated by two superpowers. Jarquin offers a sweeping analysis of the last left-wing revolution of the twentieth century, an overview of inter-American affairs in the 1980s, and an incisive look at the making of the post–Cold War order.

Following the Sandinista Revolution in 1979, young bohemian artists rushed to the newly formed Nicaraguan national film institute INCINE to contribute to "the recovery of national identity" through the creation of a national film project. Over the next eleven years, the filmmakers of INCINE produced over seventy films—documentary, fiction, and hybrids—that collectively reveal a unique vision of the Revolution drawn not from official FSLN directives, but from the filmmakers' own cinematic interpretations of the Revolution as they were living it. This book examines the INCINE film project and assesses its achievements in recovering a Nicaraguan national identity through the creation of a national cinema. Using a wealth of firsthand documentation—the films themselves, interviews with numerous INCINE personnel, and INCINE archival records—Jonathan Buchsbaum follows the evolution of INCINE's project and situates it within the larger historical project of militant, revolutionary filmmaking in Latin America. His research also raises crucial questions about the viability of national cinemas in the face of accelerating globalization and technological changes which reverberate far beyond Nicaragua's experiment in revolutionary filmmaking.

For Latin America, the Cold War was anything but cold. Nor was it the so-called Òlong peaceÓ afforded the worldÕs superpowers by their nuclear standoff. In this book, the first to take an international perspective on the postwar decades in the region, Hal Brands sets out to explain what exactly happened in Latin America during the Cold War, and why it was so traumatic. Tracing the tumultuous course of regional affairs from the late 1940s through the early 1990s, Latin AmericaÕs Cold War delves into the myriad crises and turning points of the periodÑthe Cuban revolution and its aftermath; the recurring cycles of insurgency and counter-insurgency; the emergence of currents like the National Security Doctrine, liberation theology, and dependency theory; the rise and demise of a hemispheric diplomatic challenge to U.S. hegemony in the 1970s; the conflagration that engulfed Central America from the Nicaraguan revolution onward; and the democratic and economic reforms of the 1980s. Most important, the book chronicles these events in a way that is both multinational and multilayered, weaving the experiences of a diverse cast of characters into an understanding of how global, regional, and local influences interacted to shape Cold War crises in Latin America. Ultimately, Brands exposes Latin AmericaÕs Cold War as not a single conflict, but rather a series of overlapping political, social, geostrategic, and ideological struggles whose repercussions can be felt to this day.

Nicaragua: Emerging from the Shadow of the Eagle details the country's unique history, culture, economics, politics, and foreign relations. Its historical coverage considers Nicaragua from pre-Columbian and colonial times as well as during the nationalist liberal era, the U.S. Marine occupation, the Somoza dictatorship, the Sandinista revolution and government, the conservative restoration after 1990, and consolidation of the FSLN's power since the return of Daniel Ortega to the presidency in 2006. The thoroughly revised and updated sixth edition features new material covering political, economic, and social developments since 2011. This includes expanded discussions on economic diversification, women and gender, and social programs. Students of Latin American politics and history will learn the how the interventions by the United States 'the eagle' to 'the north' have shaped Nicaraguan political, economic, and cultural life, but also the extent to which Nicaragua is increasingly emerging from the eagle's shadow.